Sampler and Campers

I finished the latest batch of shop samples I had (two huge boxes!).  I finished the top of the Riley Black Sugarhouse Picnic quilt.  It took a lot of cutting, but at least there were only 8 different blocks and it went together well. 

Sugarhouse Picnic

 Here are a couple closeups. 

 The other items I made were from a panel.  The panel has two placemat fronts, one pillow front and a potholder front.  They are fun to make and are very cute!  I am not a camper and don't own a camper and they wouldn't match a thing in my house, but they are fun.

 Daffodils in my pasture when I was out doing a photo session of the sampler quilt.  I love how they are so random out there.  I have always had an idea of digging some up, but I have a few scattered around my flower beds and decided I would rather leave them.

I am joining Alycia for Finished or Not Friday. 

Clementine Sew Along top

Last fall I apparently signed up for a quilt along with Fat Quarter Shop to benefit St. Judes.  I honestly forgot about it, but a package of fabric arrived in late December.  Each month you printed a free pattern for seven months.  I just happened to sew all my blocks in the last few days!    July was the last month so I am not too far behind!  The quilt measures 70 x 90.

I will add this to my long list of tops to be quilted!

 The funny part I thought the setting/border fabric was an aqua pindot,   but when I took a close up I saw it was directional stars!

Check out other Design Wall projects at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Monday Making

Another Quilt Top!

I know I SHOULD be working on UFO's, but a couple months ago when the May/June Quiltmaker magazine came out I found a quilt in there that hit me hard, very hard!  So much so that I ordered the fabrics used in the sample quilt.  That is not something I do very often, but I loved the Composition backgrounds and the Grunge fabrics.  I cut out the quilt immediately, and it was still kitted up and I threw in my retreat bag.  I manged to get all the pinwheels made at retreat and now I have a finished top.  I LOVE this top.  It's so not me!  I will bind it with one of the bright Grunge fabrics after quilting.  I bought 1/2 yard cuts and cut 4 3" squares out of each one, so they will be showing up in more quilts!  I am basiclaly out of the backgrounds though since it was just a FQ pack.

Grunge and Conposotion fabrics - Tutti Frutti quilt from Quiltmaker

closeup

The quilt finishes at 60 X 72 and will go into my never ending collection of tops to be quilted!  

Making a Project List

Wow, oh wow!  I just had a major shock!  I went through my UFO's, aka projects I have started, but not finished.  I never dreamed I had as many as I do!  I am not making a resolution, but rather a goal of finishing 52 projects this year.  This may include something that is not even on the list yet (like a baby quilt for my daughter's friend), so I am leaving myself open to that.  I didn't want to join a challenge where you had to work on a certain project on a certain month, I don't operate like that.  I have times where I am super busy and don't have much time for quilting, and then I have weeks off in the summer where I spend the afternoons quilting when it's hot outside.  I am also a pretty intense quilter, meaning I can focus for periods of time and ignore other things. Some people call that an obsession, some people call it an addiction and I agree with both!  

I am going to list all my UFO's as I am in a friendly challenge with some friends.  A lot of these won't make sense, but my goal is to take before and after pictures as I work on each project and blog about it.  Some of them were acquired from other people, but I still count them in my totals.  A lot of them will be donated or gifted when they are finished.  I know I have forgotten some, but I'm scared to dig anymore!

TOPS TO BE QUILTED:  (in no particular order)
1.  Be My Neighbor (needs done before Jan. 31 for contest)
2.  Modern City Sampler/Tula Pink
3.  Christmas Block Robin
4.  Mistletoe Stars
5.  Country Snowflakes
6.  Poinsettia One Block Wonder
7.  Red/White Baskets
8.  Green/Blue Diamond Rail Fence
9.  Primary Lone Star (1)
10.  Primary Lone Star (2)
11.  Butterflies
12.  30's Dresden
13.  Pansies (from MIL's stash already marked with quilting design)
14.  Red/White sampler
15.  Floral Sand Castles
16.  Mocha Meringue (1)
17.  Mocha Meringue (2)
18.  Mocha Meringue with blue throw
19.  WASIQ - tan
20.  WASIQ - blue
21.  Kaffe Stars
22.  Bright Jelly Roll
23.  Modern Jelly Roll
25.  Judy Niemeyer - compass
26.  Itty Bitty Blocks
27.  Wedding Ring
28.  Fall tablerunner
29.  Antique dresden
30.  Bonnie Hunter Mystery (can't remember the name!) 2 years ago
32.  Butterfly Row X Row
33.  Purple/Turquoise Sampler
34.  Vicki's Row X Row
35.  Turquoise/Black Stack and Whack
36.  Scrap Swap quilt top
37.  Easy Street (Bonnie mystery 4 years ago)
38.  Vicki's block robin
39.  Janice's stars
40.  Frog baby quilt
41.  Food tablecloth
42.  Aqua/Gray large quilt
43.  Aqua/Gray throw
44.  poinsettia tablerunner
45.  teal trees
46.  Fossil Fern
47.  Hawaiian applique
48.  Cathedral window
49.  Blue baskets
50.  Deb's wallhanging

UFO's or PIP's (Projects in Progress)
1.  Earth tone batik scraps
2.  purple batiks scraps
3.  batik rail fence scrap
4.  30's scrap blocks
5.  many, many, many odd blocks (over 100)
6.  1930's Farmers Wife
7.  Batik Farmer's Wife
8.  Rose Applique
9.  Winter Wonderland
10.  Embroidered Christmas
11.  Amish Sampler
12.  Bow Tucks Purse
13.  Leaf Wallhanging
14.  Blueberry Granola (purple/green)
15.  Charity quilt (1)
16.  Charity quilt (2)
17.  Quilt of Valor (1)
18.  Quilt of Valor (2)
19.  Magic of Christmas
20.  Hand Quilted Wholecloth
21.  Hand quilted quilt for Jan
22.  Hand quilted quilt started by MIL
23.  Trip Around the World hand dyed
24.  12 Rows of Christmas
25.  Landscape
26.  Heart blocks
27.  Garden Embroidery
28.  Blue Sampler
29.  wreath applique
30.  wool applique

HSY (Haven't Started Yet - but have the fabrics)
1. Baltimore Album fusible applique
2.  Glacier Star paper pieced
3.  Something Blue paper pieced
4.  Mistletoe Lane BOM
5.  Summer Fest Jelly Roll
6.  Lots of others, but I am tired!

Prepping for Quilt Camp

I get to go on a quilt retreat this coming week, 4 nights!  I am very excited to hang out with friends and quilt.  My hip is getting back to normal after two months of therapy (we still don't know why it went wacky, but oh well), and that will help my comfort level of being able to bend and walk!

For my main project I decided to take my Fire Island Hosta quilt I started last year.  I LOVE this quilt.  I had the center sections done and this weekend I cut the outer two paper pieced borders and have this part assembled.  It will end up being 100 X 100 when it's finished.




I have a large sewing room and the adage of filling more space if you have it is true.  I am not the neatest person when it comes to my fabric. I think I need a little chaos to create.  However my cupboards of unquilted tops were a bit out of control. Several had fallen out while looking for something else.  I took a before picture and an after picture. The tops on the left side have backings with them.  Altogether there are 42 tops there.  Then I remembered two tops that were in a bag I took to guild for show and tell!  YIKES 44 unquilted tops!!!  

A friend who sang at my wedding 32 years ago saw the pictures on Facebook and picked out two quilts she wanted to buy.  This is one and I have it basted and ready to take to quilt camp and will machine quilt it there.  I do all my quilting on a Pfaff Grand Quilter.  This top is 54 X 78 and was made in about 2000.  I was involved in the Pat Sloan yahoo group and had a couple friends that were very "country".  We did a row robin exchange.  The backgrounds are all Buggy Barn Fabrics and there are several Pat Sloan fabrics in this quilt.  I really am not a "tan" person so I am glad this will find a new home!

I have another quilt cut out using Kaffe Fassett fabrics and I am almost finished with the hand applique on my Folk Art Sampler wool applique wallhanging.  I will be taking that along to machine quilt too. I think I will be busy and probably won't finish everything!

Linking up with Patchwork Times and Main Crush Monday.

Favorite Quilt Tops of 2013

These are my two favorite tops finished in 2013, neither of them quilted yet!  I started off 2013 by finishing a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Easy Street.  I love the colors!  I started it after Thanksgiving 2012 and it was a finished top in January 2013.  I am not a green fan but I do love this quilt!  It's huge! 

 I ended the year finishing a log cabin quilt from a book by Judy Martin.  I started sewing it at a retreat at Palouse Divide Lodge in November and finished the top in December, 5,206 pieces.  It's 94 X 94.

Working on another UFO

I set together another set of blocks. They were from a monthly swap group and one was dated 2006. I originally was going to set the with alternate blocks and a pieced border. I finally decided size wise it was going to be big enough with just sashing. The yellow just screamed use me! I will be using that same yellow fabric as a piped border next to a purple binding when ever I get it quilted! Taking a pic on my design wall with a fluorescent light right above isn't the best choice!